Lake Worth man didn't tell partner about HIV, cops say

Nathaniel Faulk kept a secret for eight years that might land him behind bars for half a century.

On Tuesday, deputies arrested Faulk, 51, of Lake Worth, on multiple charges that he had sex with his live-in girlfriend without disclosing he was HIV positive.

Florida law states a person who has tested positive for HIV must tell his or her sexual partners. Failing to do so is a felony.

Faulk faces 10 charges, and if convicted on all counts, Faulk could spend 50 years in jail and be fined $50,000.

On July 7, two months after serving a five-year prison sentence, Faulk moved into a small apartment in the 1300 block of South Federal Highway with his girlfriend, whom police have not identified.

About two weeks later, on July 21, the woman looked through the nightstand next to the couple's bed and found the brown paper bag that broke her boyfriend's secret.

Inside, she found HIV medication marked with Faulk's name and confronted him.

"I didn't know how to tell you," Faulk said. "I'm sorry."

On Tuesday, the woman visited a Comprehensive AIDS program for an HIV test. There, she learned it is a crime for a person with HIV to have unprotected sex without disclosing whether he or she has the virus.

In 1997, Florida legislators amended Statute 384.24, which made it a crime to not disclose sexually transmitted diseases such as gonorrhea and syphilis. They added HIV to the list, making it a felony for an HIV-infected person to have "sexual intercourse" without disclosing their status to their partner.

Legislators amended the law after the U.S. Department of Health confirmed HIV was a precursor to AIDS.

Faulk's girlfriend immediately went home and called police.

In a telephone call recorded by authorities, the woman asked Faulk how long he had HIV, and he said two years. She then asked if he was ever going to tell her he had HIV.

"Yeah," Faulk said. "I was going to tell you."

Faulk also told her he didn't think she contracted the virus, which can take up to 30 days to show up. The results of the woman's HIV test — which typically take 10 days to develop — are unknown. However, the law applies even if the partner does not get infected.

Faulk also told detectives he has had HIV for eight years but tells people he has been infected for two years. It isn't known if he has had sex with anyone else in those eight years.

When detectives told him about the recorded telephone call with his girlfriend, he apologized.

"I lost everything — I was trying so hard," Faulk said. "I'm sorry."

Unless Faulk discloses his sexual partners, said sheriff's spokeswoman Teri Barbera, authorities may never know if he has exposed anyone else to the virus in the eight years he has known about his HIV-positive status.

Even so, the charges Faulk faces have not landed many others behind bars.

Since 1997, when the HIV clause entered the law, six other people have been arrested in Palm Beach County for failing to inform their partners. Of those cases, only four made it to court, where a jury found two people guilty.

The other two cases were dropped before prosecution.

Since 2008, approximately 145 people have been arrested or prosecuted across the country for exposing sex partners to HIV, according to the Center for HIV Law and Policy in New York. Florida saw 14 of those cases.

Law enforcement officials said that, while the charges seem rare, many cases go unreported because victims of crimes dealing with sex or sexually transmitted diseases are often afraid or embarrassed to report it.

"There's no rhyme or reason why people don't report it," said Reid Scott, assistant state attorney with the special victims unit of Palm Beach County. "But vulnerable people are often unsure of what to do or say."

The Palm Beach County Sheriff's Office is asking anyone who may have been involved with Faulk to contact special investigations at 561-688-4140.

According to Florida Statute 384.24, a person who has tested HIV positive must tell his or her sexual partners. Failing to do so is a third degree felony offense in Florida, punishable up to five years in prison and a $5,000 fine, per count. Multiple offenses may be ruled first felonies.

The relevant section of Florida Statute 384.24 reads as follows:

"It is unlawful for any person who has human immunodeficiency virus infection, when such person knows he or she is infected with this disease and when such person has been informed that he or she may communicate this disease to another person through sexual intercourse, to have sexual intercourse with any other person, unless such other person has been informed of the presence of the sexually transmissible disease and has consented to the sexual intercourse."